OGAE UK wins the OGAE Song Contest 2018 with Steps

OGAE Australia has revealed the results of the 2018 OGAE Song Contest, and it is the United Kingdom, through the participation of OGAE UK, that takes the trophy this year, with “Scared of the Dark” by Steps! The OGAE Song Contest is the third official OGAE contest to give its results this year, after the Retro and the Second Chance contests.

What is the OGAE Song Contest ?

The Song Contest is the oldest of the four annual OGAE contests. First held in 1986, it is a competition in which all OGAE clubs can participate. Participants can send one song, as long as it respects these criteria:

• The song must be original (no cover)
• It must have been released the year of the contest or the previous year (2017 or 2018)
• It must be sung in one of the country’s official languages
• The artist (or at least one member, for bands) must be a citizen of the country it represents
• Obviously, the song must not have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest or any national selection

Moreover, the contest is an audio contest. There is no need for any videoclip, and voters should only take the song into account when voting.

OGAE members can vote inside their club, and the 10 favorite songs of each club receive points in the Eurovision style (1 to 8, then 10 and 12). Unlike in the Second Chance Contest, only the participating countries can vote. This year, there were 29 participating clubs. The winner then organises the next contest: the club receives the songs from other countries, enforce the rules, receives the voting results and announce them. Originally, the organising club also had to send the songs to each national clubs, mailing audio cassettes. Nowadays, the contest mainly takes place online, and the organising club must host the files of the song and give download links to the other clubs.

The UK wins the 2019 edition

This year, the contest was organised by OGAE Australia, after winning the contest last year. 29 countries took part, and OGAE UK won in a landslide, having chosen “Scared of the Dark” by Steps to represent them.

The complete rankings:

1. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – Steps | “Scared Of The Dark” – 230 points
2. 🇬🇷 Greece – Eleni Foureira | “Vasilissa” – 171 points
3. 🇮🇪 Ireland – Kodaline | “Follow Your Fire” – 154 points
   
4. 🇮🇹 Italy – Giorgia & Marco Mengoni | “Come neve” – 131 points
5. 🇧🇪 Belgium – Charlotte | “Ta peau” – 110 points
6. 🇸🇪 Sweden – Samir & Viktor | “Put your hands up för Sverige” – 89 points
7. 🇭🇺 Hungary – Joci Pápai | “Özönvíz” – 85 points
8. 🇦🇺 Australia – Troye Sivan | “My My My!” – 83 points
9. 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Michalis Hatzigiannis | “Erotas Agkathi” – 74 points
10. 🇲🇰 FYR Macedonia – Antonia Gigovska | “Svetlina vo mrak” – 73 points
11. 🇷🇺 Russia – Lolita | “Ranevskaja” – 45 points
12. 🇵🇱 Poland – Cleo | “Łowcy gwiazd” – 44 points
13. 🇫🇷 France – Christophe Willem | “Rio” – 42 points
14. 🇺🇦 Ukraine – Kazka | “Svyata” – 37 points
    
15. 🇪🇸 Spain – Lola Indigo | “Ya no quiero ná” – 35 points
    
16. 🇹🇷 Turkey – Aynur Aydin feat. Turaç Berkay | “Bana Aşk Ver” – 32 points
17. 🇩🇪 Germany – Alina | “Nie vergessen” – 32 points
18. 🇳🇴 Norway – Kari Bremnes | “Det e min sønn” – 30 points
19. 🇲🇹 Malta – Emma Muscat | “I Need Somebody” – 30 points
20. 🇭🇷 Croatia – Franka Batelić | “S Tobom” – 28 points
21. 🇦🇩 Andorra – Buhos | “Volcans” – 25 points
22. 🇩🇰 Denmark – Rasmus Seebach | “2017” – 23 points
23. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria – DARA | “Vse Na Men” – 22 points
24. 🇷🇸 Serbia – Lena Kovačević | “Café” – 14 points
25. 🇸🇮 Slovenia – Lea Sirk | “Moj Profil” – 14 points
26. 🇫🇮 Finland – Evelina | “Tornado” – 13 points
27. 🇨🇿 Czech Republic Mirai | “Chci tančit” – 10 points
28. 🇵🇹 Portugal – Salvador Sobral | “Mano a Mano” – 4 points
29. 🇧🇾 Belarus – Skynet | “Kakhanaya” – 2 points
    

Congratulations to OGAE UK for its victory!